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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Somehow, my little girl is now nine years old. I don't know how nine years went by so fast...but she's still as precious and beautiful as the day she was born. Sorry, it's easy for me to get mushy about my kids. I just don't feel old enough to have a child who's going into fourth grade!!!! But anyway, she enjoyed her birthday with a family party at our house the week before, and then a "friend party" on her actual birthday at Bounce Magic. Which, by the way, I highly recommend! She got a little spoiled this year with her coveted hockey gear that she's been asking for since she was six. Now all she wants to do is pretend to be Ryan Miller in the driveway! And she seriously DOES have skills...so watch out Gary Bettman, we just might have a groundbreaking female superstar goalie in the making here!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

So today...ok, what do I say about today? Well, it's not a full moon...BUT......(beware of run-on sentence ahead).....First the day starts off absolutely BEAUTIFUL, then a monsoon hits in the mid-afternoon (seriously, the thunder literally shook my giant building downtown)...then I hear from my husband that our living room was overtaken by hundreds of tiny little ants - feasting on one of our dog's treats...then my little boy injures his toe really badly in the driveway, and he's not even really sure how he did it...then it gets beautiful outside again, like nothing ever happened with the psychotic weather change...then Layla (our dog) inexplicably gets off her chain somehow and wanders around the neighborhood...then I hear Farrah Fawcett has finally lost her long battle to cancer...then I hear my cousin is being deported from Canada.....and THEN I HEAR.....ummm....MICHAEL JACKSON...DIED?!!! HUH?!? Where did THAT come from?! How does that happen?? He can die?? Isn't he some sort of superhuman being or something? A world without Michael Jackson?? What's that like? I don't even know what to say, for some reason that concept just seems absolutely CRAZY to me. In my eyes, and (I would imagine) in the eyes of anyone else who was a child in the 80's, he was larger than life. The idea of the world without him just seems......WEIRD. And now the thunderstorm is on its way back...I think I need to go hide under the bed.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Today was David's Pre-K Graduation/Concert! I was really looking forward to this because he's been singing the songs for us for weeks now and I could not wait to see it all put together on stage with all his little friends, and of course, crazy Mr. B! The best part about these kids is the adorable madness that ensues when they perform. None of them are ever doing the same thing at the same time...or singing the same thing at the same time......they make the craziest faces and play with their clothes, hair, yell things out randomly... it's semi-controlled chaos! SO freakin' CUTE!!! I forgot how much I love kids at this age. OF COURSE, I knew I loved my own child. lol! But I honestly really miss working with pre-schoolers. Man are they fun!

Anyway, here are some pics :)

Each of the kids traced themselves and then colored themselves in. David's teacher said he insisted on making his skin orange because he couldn't find a peach colored crayon...oh how I love his attention to detail! lol

Definitely very important and helpful information!

Here they are with their "tickets to Kindergarten"!

I'm a proud Mama :)

And here's the video of some of the best songs they did :) The "Everywhere There's Bugs" song (at the 7:28 mark) is the best! lol

Monday, June 15, 2009

So here's what a weirdo I am. I was sitting here on Playlist.com, making a playlist to post on here of songs that my kids have enjoyed listening to over the years. Well, I came up with a few right away...Rainbow Connection, What a Wonderful World....Return to Pooh Corner....wait! BAD IDEA!!! Suddenly, what was going to be a cute little trip down memory lane turned into me sitting here with tears streaming down my cheeks. You know how it is when a song brings back memories? Well, as soon as I heard the opening chords for Return to Pooh Corner, it was like someone punched me in the stomach and I pretty much became a big teary mess.

Here's the song I'm talking about. It really is beautiful:

Before you laugh too much, here's why: When I had my first child, I was lucky enough to be able to stay home with her until she was a year and a half old. We were inseparable. Then, I got a job working at a daycare center as a pre-school teacher, and as a result, she attended the daycare center - in the toddler room right next door. I could see her ANYTIME I wanted to. One of the cds her teachers always put on at naptime was Kenny Loggins "Return to Pooh Corner". And every day when it came time for my lunch break, I'd sneak into the toddler room and wake my tiny little girl from her nap...I'd scoop her up and play with her in the lobby, or take her for a walk...whatever. I'd just spend the entire hour with her. And it almost always worked out that when I went in to get her, THAT song was playing on the cd player. So hearing that tonight brought all that rushing back I guess. My sweet little girl who used to take naps on a teeny tiny daycare cot is turning 9 a week from Saturday. It's just so surreal. Both of our kids are growing up way too fast. It's wonderful to see them grow and change and become more independent, but it's so incredibly sad how much time has already gone by. It feels like just yesterday I was feeling them rolling around inside me, punching & kicking the crap out of my ribs. Oh, if I had a time machine.... They just truly are not babies anymore...

"Christopher Robin and I walked along under branches lit up by the moon Posing our questions to Owl and Eeyore,as our days disappeared all too soonBut I've wandered much further today than I should,and I can't seem to find my way back to the Wood. So help me if you can,I've got to get back to the House at Pooh Corner by one...You'd be surprised, there's so much to be done.Count all the bees in the hive. Chase all the clouds from the sky.Back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh..."

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Ok, so the kids are starting to feel the pain of losing our pet fish, Gill. He died a few days ago after having been a part of our little family and household zoo for an estimated 3 & 1/2 years...ya gotta admit - that's pretty amazing for a pet fish.

Well yesterday, my daughter started drawing something beautiful...she worked on it for a few hours last night, a few more hours this morning, and finally finished it after breakfast...

It's a "plaque", as she called it.

The inscription (exactly as she wrote it) reads:

"This is my fish gill.He died a few days ago.I miss him very much.I whish he was still alive,and he pretekted everybody in the tank.I wish he was still alive for 1 more year.I will never forget him."

Monday, June 8, 2009

We received a letter in the mail today from Samantha's school...I can honestly say that I fought back tears as my husband read it to me over the phone:

"Dear Jeffrey & Tara,

The Teachers Association is proud to sponsor the Beacon Award as a way to recognize students in our school who strongly exhibit the values of Trust, Respect, Excellence, and Integrity.

Your daughter has been selected by her teacher for being a "Beacon" in the classroom. Your child's teachers believe that her personality allows these important values to shine throughout our school.Our enclosed magnet is designed to recognize your child's special qualities at school. We hope that you display it proudly. The Beacon magnet is a subtle way for you to boast about your fine student.

Congratulations for raising such a special student. We wish you and your family all the best.

Sincerely,The Teachers Association"

How great is that?! It's just so wonderful to know that we aren't the only ones who see what a truly special little girl Samantha is!!! Both of our kids are amazing, and just when I think I couldn't be more proud of them, something like this happens to amaze me even more!

Oh! Also - Samantha told us today that her art teacher has chosen one of her drawings to be framed and displayed permanently on the school's "Wall of Fame"! So I'm so glad I took this picture of her with it at the Art Festival last month! 'Cause I guess it's never coming home! lol

Friday, June 5, 2009

So I was searching the internet for any remaining evidence of our old family website - which you may or may not remember -- Memory Sandbox. And I was totally shocked and THANKFUL to find this still out there, floating around in cyberspace...

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Ok, so Samantha's been riding a two wheeler with training wheels since she got her Disney Princess bike on her 5th Birthday.... And of course, we've prodded and encouraged her over the years to give it a shot without the training wheels. We really felt she'd be able to do it - she had great balance and we could see, especially since last summer, that the training wheels hardly ever touched the ground anymore. But she was, of course, always too scared of falling. So ok, we didn't push her. But then yesterday, as I watched my almost 9 year old daughter ride down the street on a still-training-wheel-clad bike, I told Jeff I was really thinking we should just take 'em off and MAKE her try it. I'm not a cruel mom, I swear!! I just knew she'd be alright if she'd just TRY it... but he guaranteed me that both the kids would be riding bikes sans training wheels by the end of the summer - he'd work on it with them all summer long while he was home with them. So whatever - ok, I shut up about it...

Well, ironically, hours later as I was cleaning up from dinner, Jeff yelled to me from the driveway to come outside right away. I got to the window, and what did I see???? Samantha riding like a PRO with NO TRAINING WHEELS!! This was a BIG DEAL to me!! lol, So of course I grabbed my camera immediately!

Samantha - all on her own - had decided she wanted to try it, so Jeff removed the training wheels, and off she went! She looked like she'd been doing it for years!! I'm SOOO proud!!